Participatory theatre and the retention of underrepresented minoritized  women in STEM

Despite decades of efforts to broaden participation in STEM, URM women remain underrepresented due to persistent structural inequities and exclusionary institutional climates. This paper introduces participatory theatre as a transformative intervention designed to address these barriers by centering the lived experiences of URM women leading NSF-funded STEM broadening participation (BP) programs. Grounded in Freirean critical pedagogy, Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed, and Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth framework, the study uses creative nonfiction counterstories derived from qualitative interviews as the basis for interactive theatre performances. Participants engage in Forum and Image Theatre techniques to identify, embody, and critically examine institutional challenges, fostering collective reflection and the development of strategic approaches. This participatory approach enables spect-actors to collaboratively explore themes such as representation, resource inequity, cultural capital, and policy advocacy. The findings underscore the potential of arts-based methodologies to catalyze institutional change and support the inclusion and retention of URM women in STEM.